2950 question

I recently purchased a 2950-24 for $80 from a company who is upgrading their networking equipment. He already contacted me again because he knew I was building a lab and he pulled out another 2950-24.

before I buy another one, I wanted to know if it would be better for me to sell the 2950 and get a model with EI or will I be able to do most of the labs with my current 2950?

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Comments

szmarcek

Hi,

There are a couple of things which you can only do on 2950 with EI such as
802.1s Multiple STP, 802.1w Rapid STP, Gigabit EtherChannel, Port-based ACLs

I am using 2x2950 with standard image in my home lab but I bought them when I did not really know what features they do not have (not very smart

). I use them as a kind of access layer switches (and 1x2950T and 1x3550 as distribution layer switches).

Not sure how much more you would have to pay for EI but, personally, I would go for EI

volmeru

The EI's are also good for more advanced QoS, something I'm sure would come in handy during the ONT course. But these days, prices are lowering on the 3550's...

UnixGeek

I think you can do better on eBay. FWIW, I recently purchased a 2950 EI there for $72 shipped.

josunin75

You may be able to find 3550 for $250 on eBay. (I've got 2)

If you know somebody, get SMI cheaper and maybe get EMI image from him making

that 3550 layer 3 switch.

Or you can always rent a rack for $10 like in ccie4u.com ^^;;

Cyanic

josunin75 wrote: »

You may be able to find 3550 for $250 on eBay. (I've got 2)

If you know somebody, get SMI cheaper and maybe get EMI image from him making

that 3550 layer 3 switch.

Or you can always rent a rack for $10 like in ccie4u.com ^^;;

Can you do the same with the 2950s? The hardware is the same for the SI as it is for the EI, correct?

mikej412

Cyanic wrote: »

Can you do the same with the 2950s? The hardware is the same for the SI as it is for the EI, correct?

No, it's the hardware differences in the 2950 models that turns on the EI functions in the software.

AlanJames

I have 2 x 2950s and 3550 smi which are tones cheaper the emi

3550 smi, are sweet for layer 3 etc.

Cyanic

mikej412 wrote: »

No, it's the hardware differences in the 2950 models that turns on the EI functions in the software.

Thanks for the clarification. I did go download some IOS with our Cisco admin and noticed that the 2950's IOS stated for SI and EI.